If it were possible to craft her perfect teaching position, Elisabeth Piedmont-Marton can't imagine it would be any better than this.

"I have the excitement of developing a writing center, while also teaching writing and English," she says. "I'm able to use my experience and talents in many different places."

It wasn't so long ago, however, that Piedmont-Marton had all but given up on a tenure-track position. She taught literature and writing at the University of Texas at Austin prior to earning her Ph.D. in 1992. She then spent time as a freelance writer and consultant while looking for a full-time teaching position. In the fall of 1995, she was offered an administrative position at UT-Austin as coordinator of their new writing center.

Over the next four years, she helped build one of the largest university writing centers in the country, with over 10,000 student consultations each year. But she missed teaching, so she began leading classes in UT-Austin's evening program. Then early in the summer of 1999, the opportunity she'd been awaiting finally came.

"A friend saw this position advertised and convinced me to apply for it, so I did. It's been a long, indirect route, but I'm exactly where I want to be."

Her journey to Southwestern began at Kenyon College, a small liberal arts college in Ohio, where she initially planned to study biology. That didn't last very long. Kenyon's strength is its English program, which also happened to be Piedmont-Marton's strongest interest. "I had to convince myself it was okay for me to do something that wasn't the hardest thing for me. I had to work for myself, rather than against myself."

After earning her bachelor's degree in English, she spent a year living in Washington, D.C. before going to the University of Chicago, where she obtained her master's in British Literature. She then decided to move back to D.C. and spent the next three years lecturing at American University. At the same time, she also waited tables, taught aerobics and worked as a sports stringer for the Washington Post.

"I found so much joy and intellectual reward in teaching that I thought I'd give graduate school another shot so I could get my Ph.D. and teach."

That decision led her to UT-Austin, where she worked her way through school by teaching in the English Department and mentoring members of the men's basketball team. "I learned so much as a teacher because of those one-on-one relationships."

Her experiences with the athletic program led her to be a member of the National Association for Collegiate Athletic Reform, which, she insists, is not anti-athletics. "We're calling for reform in athletic departments because their funding and governance is set up completely different from and out of proportion to other academic departments."

Piedmont-Marton has been at Southwestern for over a year now. The Debby Ellis writing center is also in its second year. Its doors are open from 5-10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday. With eight student workers, and more on the way, the center is on track to double last year's number of student consultations. With the help of a Cullen Grant, Piedmont-Marton spent last summer getting new ideas for the center by traveling around the Southeast quadrant of the country, visiting 12 university writing centers in 10 different states.

"Everything I've heard from students and faculty has been very positive. I think students of all classifications and disciplines are becoming more aware of all the ways we can help them."

She is married to Bruce Marton, a senior systems analyst who she describes as a "former rocker who married the only woman who could carry his equipment." She enjoys hiking, running (she's completed two marathons), swimming and cooking, especially French pastries. She quit teaching aerobics, because after 11 years, she was "tired of worrying about other people's thighs." A college swimmer and runner, she's a huge sports fan--especially college basketball. She's also currently working on book reviews for the Texas Observer and experimenting with some fiction writing of her own.

-Greg Holland